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Brent oil slips below $50 on mounting glut, slack demand

LONDON (Reuters) – Brent crude oil fell below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 on Wednesday, hammered by a growing supply glut and weak global demand. The pace of global business growth eased to its weakest rate in over a year at the end of 2014, according to JPMorgan’s Global All-Industry Output Index, produced with Markit. Weak economic activity is adding to fears of deflation, with euro zone inflation data due later on Wednesday expected to show the first annual fall in consumer prices since 2009. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 85 cents at $50.25 by 4.16 a.m. ET, having fallen as low as $49.66, a level last seen in May 2009. U.S. futures CLc1 were down 40 cents to $47.53 a barrel, having fallen to $46.83, their lowest since April 2009. Oil markets are down for a fifth straight session and off […]

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Crude oil prices down sharply in fourth quarter of 2014

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Bloomberg Crude oil prices fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2014 as robust global production exceeded demand. After reaching monthly peaks of $112 per barrel (bbl) and $105/bbl in June, crude oil benchmarks Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell to $62/bbl and $59/bbl in December, respectively. Brent prices fell below the five-year average in early September and slipped well below the five-year range in November and December. WTI prices have been below the five-year average since early October and below the five year-range since early November. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Bloomberg U.S. highlights Domestic crude oil production increased 1.2 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2014, up 16% from 2013. At 8.6 million bbl/d, U.S. production is at the highest level in nearly 30 years. The Brent-WTI spread averaged less than $6/bbl, significantly lower than the 2011-13 […]

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Natural Gas Price Hover Near Two-Year Lows Despite Cold Weather

By Timothy Puko Natural-gas prices are hovering near two-year lows despite the arrival of frigid weather across much of the country, as fears of a looming glut weigh on the market. A cold front has sent temperatures plunging below normal in the Midwest and Northeast. Normally, major cold snaps send natural-gas prices soaring as traders anticipate a spike in demand for the fuel, which is used to heat about half of all U.S. homes. But gas futures are taking the opposite path this time. Prices have fallen in 10 of the past 14 trading sessions through Monday and are down over 35% from their recent peak in mid-November. On Tuesday, gas for February delivery traded at $2.904 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, just 0.8% above the lowest price since September 2012. Investors are betting prices will stay low because producers are pumping out […]

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Riyadh holds to oil line, prices drop further

Saudi King Abdullah signals kingdom is keeping to its stance on defending oil market position. UPI/Roger L. Wollenberg NEW YORK, Jan. 6 (UPI) — Word that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia would defend its economic interests sent an already battered oil market into a tailspin during the Tuesday session. Crude oil prices suffered major losses Monday , with the price for the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, and Brent, the global benchmark, reaching five-year lows. Oil prices are about 50 percent lower than they were in June 2014. Prices have declined dramatically since late November when members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries opted to keep production steady despite tough market conditions. Saudi King Abdullah in a speech read by Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz suggested the kingdom was staying the course even with oil prices off about 25 percent since the OPEC meeting in November. "The kingdom will […]

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Coal India Strike Said to Shut Half of Output, Shipments

A strike by coal miners in India , the nation’s biggest walkout in four decades, shut down about half of monopoly Coal India Ltd.’s production and shipments yesterday, said two company officials, who asked not to be identified. The strike, by all of the company’s five major unions, entered its second day after talks between Coal Secretary Anil Swarup and the unions in New Delhi failed. The unions are protesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s plan to end the state’s monopoly fearing job losses and cuts in benefits. The strike will last for the planned five days as the government isn’t listening to worker concerns, said S.Q. Zama, general secretary at the Indian National Mineworkers Federation. “If this strike continues beyond a couple of days, the situation with respect to coal stock would become critical,” said Debasish Mishra, a senior director at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt.’s energy practice […]

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Iran Accuses Saudis of Oil Conspiracy

Iran Accuses Saudis of Oil Conspiracy thumbnail Iranian hard-liners are lashing out at Saudi Arabia, accusing it of conspiring with the West to keep oil prices low in a bid to harm the Islamic Republic’s economy and pressure the country to conclude a nuclear deal with West.  In retaliation, Iranian hawks are urging restive Shia Muslims in eastern Saudi Arabia to rebel against the ruling House of Saud. Iranian hawks’ accusations have mounted over the Saudi’s refusal to cut production – in an effort to maintain its share of the global oil market – fueling the precipitous slide in prices. Crude oil prices have fallen by more than half since June, from $115 a barrel to below $50. “We will not forget which countries schemed to lower the price of oil,” the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani warned darkly during a visit last month to Damascus, the Syrian […]

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Iran: West Will Concede To Tehran In Negotiations, Official Says

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told lawmakers that the Western countries involved in nuclear negotiations with the country now acknowledge Iran’s rejection of hegemony and commitment to its obligations, IRNA reported Jan. 6. He added that negotiations would result in the return of some of Iran’s frozen assets and that there is no longer talk of shutting down the Fordo and Arak nuclear sites. Iran’s Majlis, or parliament, cast 125 votes in Zarif’s favor following his remarks. The deadline to formalize an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program was extended, and a basic agreement is expected by March 1.  

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Moroccan shale continues to impress

Early Moroccan shale gas results better than expected for pioneer Gulfsands Petroleum. Photo by Steve Oehlenschlager/Shutterstock LONDON, Jan. 6 (UPI) — Gulfsands Petroleum, a company exploring the emerging shale potential in Morocco, said Tuesday exploration results there were better than expected. The company said its drilling operations in a permit area in northern Morocco were completed two days ahead of schedule and yielded "significantly elevated gas readings." Mahdi Sajjad, the company’s chief executive officer, said in a statement the results so far are the best the company has achieved to date in Morocco. "We look forward to completing the well and observing the production performance during well clean-up operations," he said. Morocco is one of the West African countries that have drawn interest from international energy companies eager to tap into unexploited reserves. During the first quarter of 2014, the company, which has headquarters in London, said it planned […]

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Nigeria: Crude Oil Export to Europe, Asia Drop

By Hamisu Muhammad With Agency Report Nigeria’s crude oil export to Europe and Asia, two of the country’s key markets, declined by 6.6 million barrels in September 2014, further reducing the country’s oil revenue at a time the plunge in global oil prices entered its third month. Report by Ship and Port online reported yesterday that the fall in oil prices, which began in June 2014 when prices peaked at $115 per barrel, had led to a decline in the country’s oil earnings, the major part of government revenue. According to the latest monthly report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, export to Europe which is Nigeria’s biggest regional market, tumbled to 29.2 million barrels in September from 33.6 million in August last year. The Asian region, which is the major target market for many oil exporters, reduced its import of Nigeria’s crude oil by 4.4 million barrels in […]

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Nigeria: Oil Price Slide Threatens 20 Percent Jobs

Lagos — The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has said that the nation’s oil and gas sector would suffer 20 percent job losses due to the sliding price of crude oil at the international market. General Secretary of the union, Comrade Bayo Olowoshile, who disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent also said expected investment in oil exploration and production would be in abeyance until there is sure profit margin stability. He also said the energy sector would suffer the chance of easy access to domestic gas requirements, adding that the development would slow down the hope in power generation and distribution despite the tariff review. He spoke on the way forward for the nation’s oil and gas sector and urged the federal government to stimulate local refining of petroleum white products and petrochemical products in 2015. He also advocated the need for […]

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